Cabinet for photograph-plates.



0. H. SCHMIDT.

CABINET FOR PHOTOGRAPH PLATES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15, 1914.

Patented Dec. 1, 1914.

@ft/tomar YHE MORRIS PErERS an.. PHOro-LITHO.. WASHING TUN. l:\A c

OSCAR H. SCHMIDT, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT 0F COLUMBIA.

CABINET FOB, PHOTOGRAPH-PLATES.

Speeicaton of Letters Patent.

Application med July 15, 1914. semi nio. s51,1e4.

To rall whom it may concern Be it known that I, OSCAR I-I. SCHMIDT, a citizen of the United States, residing at l/Vashington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cabinets for Photograph-Plates, of which the following is a specification.

My invention'relates to a cabinet especially devised for holding photographic plates, its object being to produce a cabinet of this kind of large capacity and in which the racks containing the plates mayv be drawn out and supported in such manner as to render the plates readily7 accessible.

In the drawings-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet embodying my invention, the cabinet being open and one of the racks drawn out. Fig. 2 is a vertical section, drawn on a larger scale than Fig. 1', of a portion of one of the racks. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of the cabi.- net, the end door 3 thereof being represented as let down into a horizontal position and supported.

Referring to the drawings, 2 indicates the outer casing of the cabinet. One of the walls of such casing,-an end wall, 3, in the form of cabinet illustrated,-is hinged at its lower edge, as indicated at 4, so as to form a door that may be turned 4down and supported in a horizontal position,--as represented in Fig. 1. Vhen in this position the upper face of the door is in approximately the same plane as the upper face of the bottom board 14 of the cabinet. In the compartment of the cabinet which is above the bottom board there are arranged a number of sliding racks, 5, which, in that embodiment of my invention illustrated, are constructed to receive and support photographic plates 19. Sets of strips 6 secured respectively to the bottom board 14. and the top board of the case are employed to separate the racks and form grooves or ways in which they may slide. To the upper. and inner, face of the door or hinged side 3 are secured a series of strips 7 which, when the side is let down into a horizontal position, are respectively in alinement with the strips G on the bottom board, so that any one of the racks which may be drawn out from its position within the cabinet to one outside thereof where its contentsare exposed to View and handling,has apractically continuous groove or way, formed by the said strips 6 and 7 in which to travel.

As the racks 5 when filled with photographic plates are quite heavy, and as several of them are often pulled out and supported by the door 3 at the same time, it has been found desirable to provide means `Parental nea-1, 1914;

for supporting the door in its extended position. To provide lsuch a supportl I employ asliding board or shelf 8, movable within the casing just below the door 8, and arranged to be drawn out, as represented in Fig. l, so as to occupy a substantially horizontal position below the door, which reststhereon. This board or shelf 8 may be drawn out by hand, but I prefer to provide means for insuring that it shall be moved in synchronism with the movements of the door 3being drawn out when the door is let down, and slid into the case when the door is swung up and closed. To secure this I employ a link 9 connecting the door and shelf. The link is bent at each end so as to form hooks 11 and 12. The

Ahook 11 enters an aperture in the shelf 8,

preferably passing through a perforated metal plate 10 secured yto the plate to prevent wear and to secure the proper it about the hook end of the link. The opposite hook end of the link engages a perforated plate 13 secured to the door 3. The link is preferably arranged centrally with reference to the transverse dimensions of the door and shelf which it unites, and extends inwardly between two of the racks 5. Its inner end passes through a slot 15 in the bottom board of the cabinet in order to reach the shelf 8. The hooks 11 and 12 of the link may be disconnected from the parts with which they respectively engage at pleasure, but are so shaped that they will not separate under the ordinary conditions of use.v Itis sometimes desirable to disconnect the shelf 8 from the hook, permitting it to be drawn out independently of the movements of the door 3, thus providing the cabinet with an available shelf for ordinary usesI as well as with a support for the door when let down.

18 indicates a screen secured to the rack and adapted to lie just behind the photograph plates supported therein. This screen, which may be removable and applied at will, is found, especially when of white or lightv color, to assist in the illumination of the plates so that they may be much mor readily observed and their subject-matter determined, than when the screen is not employed.

As the door 3 of a cabinet such as described should occupy a position some distance above the floor level when extended horizontally, for the convenience of the user, I prefer to construct the cabinet with a set of` lower compartments, and in the arrangement shown. 16 indicate the doors of such compartments, and 17 represents a sliding shelf which may be drawn out from the cabinet and is movable at right angles to the shelf S. These latter features, however, constitute no part of my present invention.

l. A cabinet adapted to support a set of sliding racks, having a hinged door adapted to be turned down into a substantially horizontal position and onto which the racks may be drawn out from the cabinet, and a sliding support mounted in the cabinet, on which the door rests when the support is drawn out and the door let down.

2. A cabinet having a hinged door adapted to be let down into a substantially horizontal position, a set of racks supported in the cabinet and adapted to be drawn out and rest upon the said door, a support mounted in the cabinet, on which the door when let down may rest, and connections between the door and support by which the latter is drawn out when the door is let down. Y

rThe combination of a cabinet for containing a set of racks, having a bottom on which the racks rest and slide, and a hinged door adapted to be swung into a horizontal position in substantially the plane of the cabinet bottom, a sliding shelf mounted in the cabinet and adapted when drawn out to lie below and support the `door when in a horizontal position, and a link connecting the door and the sliding shelf and having pivotal connection with each.

4. rI`he combination of a cabinet for containing a set of racks, having a bottom on which the racks rest and slide, the bottom being slotted, and a hinged door adapted to be swung into a horizontal position in substantially the plane of the cabinet bottom, a sliding shelf mounted in the cabinet below the said bottom, and adapted when drawn out to lie below and support the door when in a horizontal position, and a link connecting the door and the sliding shelf and having pivotal connection with each and extending through the slot in the bottom.

5. The combination of a cabinet for containing a set'of racks, having a bottom on which the racks rest and slide, and a hinged door adapted to be swung into a horizontal position in substantially the plane of the cabinet bottom, a sliding shelf mounted in the cabinet and adapted when drawn out to lie below and support the door when in a horizontal position, and a link 'connecting the door and the sliding` shelf and having pivotal connection with each, the connection between the link and shelf being easily separable, whereby the door and shelf may be operated independently, or simultaneously through their connection by the said link, at will.

6. The combination with a rack for supporting a series of photographic plates, of a screen secured to the rack and lying close behind the plates, whereby the photographic inpressions upon the plates may be more easily observed.

OSCAR I-I. SCHMIDT.

Witnesses z L. C. BRADY, JOHN S. Banniin.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, JJ. G. 

